First day of school

Today was the first day of school for Marie. Last night I helped her fill up her backpack with school supplies and P.E. clothes, and Julianne helped her choose her first-day outfit. This morning she said she was a little nervous, but ready to go.


I took her to school, and when we pulled into the parking lot, I think her nerves kicked in. I took her inside the school and helped her pay her fees, which took some time. She was unable to purchase a meal ticket because the laptop that the school uses has two broken keys: the "K" and the "I", making it very difficult to spell her last name, Kim.

I took her to her locker and helped her get what she needed for her first class. She wanted me to take her to the class, so I did. I then got to experience that heart-wrenching feeling that homeschooling has shielded me from thus far: that of leaving your child in the care of a teacher and in the company of other kids that you hope will treat them well. I waved good-bye and headed home.

We normally start our homeschool year the day after Labor Day as well, but some of my curriculum still hasn't arrived, and to be honest, I just wasn't ready to dive in anyway. Julianne and Caleb both begged to take their spelling placement test (so I tested them), and Elisa wanted to do any school she could get her hands on. I did a reading lesson with her, and read her a couple pages of her science book. (At dinner, she gave Brad an excellent description of evaporation, how and why it rains, and the water cycle, so she really did absorb the information.)

The kids missed having Marie here. Finally, when 3:30 arrived, Caleb went outside to watch for her. When he saw her walking toward the end of our road, he ran inside to announce it to Julianne and Elisa, who immediately sprinted outside and down the road to greet her. We all had lots of questions for her to answer about her first day.


She had a good day, and made a couple friends, but said she didn't understand much of what the teachers were saying because they talk so fast.

Tonight I had to work at the radio station, so Julianne helped Marie with her homework: Biology. Julianne worked with her for a long time, helping explain words that Marie didn't know. I realized that Julianne might end up learning high school Biology herself this year.

It was a good day, and my homeschool curriculum is scheduled to arrive tomorrow, so we'll be able to get down to business here too.